"Enemy Coast Ahead......" A still from the superb 1955 Dambusters film. I shudder at the thought of the proposed remake due sometime in 2011.
"We couldn't afford the Minis Charlie so we've had to fork out on Spitfires instead"Britain during the Second World War. Its a well know subject which is enjoyed and remembered by millions of people on weekends and rainy days through the media of film. Such classics like The Dambusters and Battle of Britain (likewise seen above) filmed in the 1950's & 1960's, are great examples of what most people would associate with the dashing and brave nature of the fighting men (and not forgetting women) during that time of impending gloom and strife. I myself love these two films. Even to the point that these two could well be two of my most favourite films of all time. Come on though, is their anything wrong in revealing in these great films and thinking that you could of very well been an old Hurricane Pilot or a member of 617 squadron in a previous life??? Could just be me to think that to be honest! However thanks to my History lectures and the seminar i had today, it brought about quite an interesting question. "Is there a certain myth culture created around Britain and the events of 1940 and essentially the entire war?" Films certainly portray this glamorous imagery of these clean, smartly spoken chaps dashingly fighting for King & Country, kicking the Bosch to high heaven and back in time for tea at six and enough time to take the lady in waiting to the flickers to watch the latest film from across the waves. In fact the real imagery was very different from that given on the screen.
Leslie Howard in smoking pipe mode as R.J Mitchell in "The First Of The Few"To show the extent of how the "Myth" was created around Britain at War, I'm going to use this dashing man, Mr Leslie Howard and the film he's in as an example. The photo is from the 1942 film "The First Of The Few". Howard's character is the legendary Supermarine aircraft designer R.J Mitchell, better known as the designer of the Spitfire. Its basically a celebration of this iconic aircraft and how Mitchell and a certain test pilot and close friend called Crisp (David Niven) develop this aircraft in time to fight against the cunning Germans. The Battle of Britain created this aircraft in the public eyes as the "Aircraft that saved Britain". A very bold statement to quote. Very true the Spitfire was a great machine and was very much loved by pilot and schoolboy alike, but to give it its status is to me a bit unfair and unjust. To me the real "Winner" of the Battle Of Britain was its older and more rugged friend, the Hawker Hurricane. With 65% of all the kills Fighter Command took during the whole campaign, Hurricane's occupying 29 Squadron's to the Spitfire's 19 and the majority of its aces flying Hurricanes, Sidney Camm's brilliant fighter should surely deserve the honour of the "real" hero. But sadly its left aside. The Spitfire was far more glamorous and perfectly captured the mood of the nation desperately seeking a shining beacon of hope and heroes to lift the country's depleting morale. In 1940, The RAF were their heroes and the Spitfire was the nation's jewel in the crown against the ever increasing evil that was Nazism. That still stems today, the notion that the Spitfire was indeed the only aircraft that saved Britain during the Battle of Britain. It is indeed an good example of the "Myth Of 1940".If you believe that the Spitfire was the one true aircraft that won the the Battle of Britain single handily, You've missed out the Hurricane, the Blenheim, the Wellington, Gladiator, Battle, Defiant, Lysander, Whitley, Hampden & Beaufighter which were all notable aircraft that also formed a key part in the survival of Britain during those hectic summer days in the skies above Southern (and in a couple of cases Northern skies) in 1940. The myth becomes dangerously unwanting towards expressing detail that would seem exciting or just about relative to what the general public would want to read or see about. "The "First Of The Few" is defiantly one of them.
Hawker Hurricane: The REAL hero of the Battle of BritainThen we lead onto the imagery of the everyday person fighting during this period. We can now easily mock this films from the period as a living example of our "stiff upper lipness" that Britain is apparently renowned for. Films like "Miss Miniver", "In Which We Serve" & "Went The Day Well" are all branded as "what we were all like during World War Two" and this is how we should always live, together as one, helping each other out, drinking Brooke Bond Tea whilst listening to George Formby on the wireless saying to us that its sodding turned out nice again. If your the debatable type, you'd be thinking right now along the lines of "REALLY?????" But before you shun this the recycle bin, its a pretty valid "REALLY". Just how many people were like the Noel Coward's and the Thora Hird's we see in such films that were created and depict what it was like during the war. Was it a fair representation of the past? To some extent, this isn't true. Just take the highly "accurate" films of "The Guns of Navarone" and "Where Eagles Dare" for example. Fun and entertain replaced facts and relevance. The films produced during the 1940's can be argued to be very patriotic and wooden in delivery, but these were designed to raise and keep the moral of the people intact. The very sense to keep at it, be vigilant and to carry on towards victory. The idea of the "Myth" around wartime is a key debate. Films most certainly are, but in fairness they pretty much did there purpose, to entertain, but above all to inform us not to give in in the face of great crises and also with remembering in today's society, never to forget.
After all, what can be more uplifting and moral boosting to the masses than to see Thora Hird heralding a gun in "Went The Day Well"? If your wondering which one she is in the picture below, she's the one on the right.
Anyway that's me sorted for another entry here. Very happy to get my presentation over and done with today on the Festival Of Britain+ Britain & The Cold War. Hope everyone who was their to see it liked it =). Take care everyone and speak to you very soon!
After all, what can be more uplifting and moral boosting to the masses than to see Thora Hird heralding a gun in "Went The Day Well"? If your wondering which one she is in the picture below, she's the one on the right.
Anyway that's me sorted for another entry here. Very happy to get my presentation over and done with today on the Festival Of Britain+ Britain & The Cold War. Hope everyone who was their to see it liked it =). Take care everyone and speak to you very soon!
OK here's my first proper post on my brand new blog. The lecture Ive just been in talked about the ideas of Britain and its so called "image" as a powerful nation alongside other European nations around it. The basic element in my view regarding this so called issue of whether Britain was such a powerful nation, directly centred around the very idea of that so called "image". The heavy state of Jingoism that has been a common factor within this country could be a centre cause to why we got, and still do, get carried away with the very idea that Britain is the greatest country in the world, and no one else is.....unless we managed to take over a random country a couple of decades ago, stuck a flag there and said "Right matey this place its now ours!". A good question to ask is this. With all the propaganda and Jingoism; what "exactly" does it mean to be British? What does make you British? This is certainly something you could ask yourself. What IS the criteria of being properly British? Its certainly a problem that's still going strong today. The Fact that Britain likes to still think its the greatest and still compete with other nations about it. People have certainlly taken this on board throughout the decades, and to some extent, it has caused more harm than good.
Take our natural obsession with Germany for example. Fair enough we fought them in two world wars and beat them in a certain World Cup final but do we really need to keep kicking the same old rusty Heinz baked bean can into the bin? Is their any point of still refering those guys "across the river and slightly to the right" as the natural enemy? Clearly their really shouldnt be. However this is sadly not the case. This still all boils down to the type of Jingoistic, happily produced, union jack wrapped patroitism which we have become renouned for. The Two World Wars against them certainly havent helped, and niether has the works of a certain Basil Faulty or Harry Enfield played any part in finally laying this much flogged ghost to rest. But take into consideration those people that fought during the conflicts. With the experiences that they went through and the suffering that they must of went through, the emphasis shifts in a completely new direction. Can you blame them? To a massive extent no. But what about the the other aspect of the argument? I'm just writing this. That's up for you to decide.
So what is the right definition of British? Its definatley a tricky one. Is it the "Keep Calm & Carry On" emphasis the same old patterns that we have grown up with. Or does it mean something else? That's only something for you to decide. The issue though isnt modern. The issue is firmly in the past. Why were we so stubborn in the face of European events/intervention? Even in the face of great struggle, especially as the 20th Century rolled into the 2nd half the century, we still stood there with the impression that Britannia was still riding high with spear in hand, when in reality we were nothing more an secondary state to America, holding up nothing more to the world than a plastic spoon. Why did we do that?!?! Why were we so "stiff upper lipped" about everything, even though we were basically broke? Whatever routes or choices we could of taken, and whatever "image" we had, whether it be with alling with the Germans before WWI, the finanical and social turmoil that gripped the UK in the 1970's, one thing is for certain. As regards to Britain looking back other the decades and the trouble we have been in, and the possibilites we could of taken, we certainly didnt help ourselves one little bit. But then again, thats my own view.
